The Evil Petting Zoo

I may be the last person in the liberal blogosphere to report on this, due to the sudden encroachment of finals. But Jesus Christ in a hybrid, the mainstream news media has completely lost the plot.

That video above? Just a short collection of excerpts from Tuesday night's ABC Democratic debate which, apparently, had forty fucking minutes of such questions essential to the future of our nation as Obama's feelings of "bitterness," Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and fucking flag lapel pins. It may be, without a doubt, one of the stupidest things I will ever have the grand misfortune of viewing in my life.

And of course, the media is painting itself as blameless for all of this. It's not their fault, people like David Brooks say; they're just giving the public what they want. One question: what public? What public has explicitly announced its demand for the coverage of worthless candidate minutia over the issues that will affect them in everyday life? What public gives a shit about bowling, pant suits, or barbecue? Oh, I know; it's the imaginary common people who live in the heads of the media elite, the ones they swear are absolutely concerned with all the gossipy shit that seems to get them off.

The public don't want it. The public are sick and fucking tired of it, if the response to the ABC debate is any indicator. Then again, it's not like the media cares; like usual, when a story generates a large negative reaction, a few positive comments are handpicked and presented in the name of "balance."

Eight years ago, the media fell into such a feeding frenzy over the minutia of the Gore campaign that they deliberately passed along false facts. Four years ago, the media cared more about the war Kerry fought in decades ago rather than what he'd do about the one we were currently involved in. We cannot let this infantile, masturbatory focus on the trivial continue to dominate the campaign coverage. Not if we value the journalistic process in any way, shape, or form.